James gioege evans



July 17, 1923- J. G. EVANS CHILD'S MAILCART AND LIKE VEHICLE Filed Feb. 21, 1921 Inventor .dttorney.

Patented July 17, 1923.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIQ.

JAMES GEORGE EVANS, OF TUNBRIDGE WELLS, ENGLAND.

CHILD'S MAILCART AND LIKE VEHICLE.

Application filed February 21, 1921. Serial No. 446,855.

(GRANTED UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF THE ACT OF MARCH 3, 1921, 41 STAT. L. 1313.)

To all whom it may coacem:

Be it, lrnown that I, JAWI-ES Gannon EVANS, a subject of the King of Great Britain and Ireland, residing at 51 lligh Street. Tunbridge ells. England. have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Childrens Mailcarts and like. Vehicles (for which application for patent was made in (ircat Britain. #493. dated January 6 1 320. and patent received on said application on June 6. 1921. patent being numbered lo-L406). of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to childrens mailcarts and like vehicles and has for i s object to provide a strong. durable and effective construction. which permits of the mailcart being readily folded when outv ot use, or for the purpose of carriage from place to place and in which the seat is elastically supported. and thus etlectively to absorb road shock or vibration.

According to the invention the seat is provided with its l'tFplUlll'Q parts piv tally con nected together in such a manner that. it is capable oi being t'olded down when out. of use or for transport. but the sub tantially vertical members or other parts of the seat frame or parts connected therewith are sus pended from the frame by means of spiral springs.

A handle is carried by means of rearwardly extending frame members which are pivotally connected to the respective parts of the main frame, and these frame members are connected to the rear upstanding frame members of the back of the seat by means of linksQso that thus when the frame members carrying the handle are turned forwards, the frame members of the back of the seat are carried downwardly. and the frame of the seat thus collapses and comes to lie immediately over the top of the main frame so that thus the height of the mail- I cart is considerably reduced and a relatively small space is taken by it.

In the position of use the Frame members carrying the handle are held in their rear position as for example, by means of a pair of links, each link being divided and its respective parts pivotally connected tog-the! and the outer ends of the links conn ed respectively to one of the frame, imp 1"!" carrying the handle and the :n'liavfir? part of the frame, so that thus the links may be caused to yield on the frame members of the handle being turned down.

According to the invention moreover the main frame consists of two parts disposed in parallel positions and made of metal tubes and secured at the respective ends of the two axles of the road wheels. These main frame members may take, a more or less oblong form in a vertical plane with the ends curved advantageously to a circular curvature so that thus the folding seat is well supported. i

According to the invention I provide a. hood for such a mail cart comprising frame members carried by the back part. of the seat or provided as upward extensions thereof. These frame members serve ,to support the rear part of the hood while the forward part is supported by collapsible struts or stays. It will thus be understood that such a. hood may be turned rearwardly when not in use and its front part may be turned rearwardly bv the forward part ol the strut or stay on each side moving upon the pivot pin so that it may come to lie in a dependin; position at the rear of the seat, while that part of the struts or stays carried'by the baclt of the scat then assumes a position Figure l. I provide the mail cart with our road wheels a of equal diameter. and I seecure-upon the respective axles 7 7). two main frame members 0 c in position adjacent the respective wheels. These frame members a c are provided ol the oblong lorni substantially as hereinbctore descri ed. from a tu e. Each has a straight and substantially horizontal lower part and a straight and slightly inclined upper part in the same plane. th inclination being slightly upwardly towards the front. so as thus to corre pond with the n rmal inclination of the seat. while the ends of the respectivemain t'rame parts 0 a have a circular curvature.

: may be formed of a number of tubes brazed or otherwise connected by a coupling member so as to produce a very strong, and durable construction.

Beneath the upper. parts of these frame members lugs or brackets d are provided for the reception of the upper ends. of spiral springs 6, so that thus the seat 7' may be supported from two positions, that is at the front, and the rear at each; side. It will be understood that the respective parts of the main frame are so spaced apart as to ac-' commodate the seat between them, and that they may be suitably braced together by transverse members especially in large sizes of vehicles.

The seat f is provided so that the members of the back and r'ront may be folded down in the manner hereinbefore described, but these respective members 9 h of the seat are extended downwardly to form extensions for the reception of the ends of the spiral springs e before referred to. These members g h are pivotally connected together by link members i and j, the members 2' serving as arm supports or side supports for the seat and are connected to the members h at the upper end of the latter, while the members j serve to carry the seat proper f. The seat f may be secured to the members 7' by means of nails or in any other way, and the seat may take any suitable form, plain or upholstered. It may be made of flexible material such as canvas. or of a substance such as wood or papier macho. The member 7' may, however, be formed as a quadrilateral frame. The spiral springs r are advantageously'secured at their lower ends to the laterally protruding ends of rods is, which thus serve to support the seat, and the parts 9 and It may turn upon the rods 7; when the seat is to be collapsed.

It will be understood that the arm supports or members 2' are in the usual way ivotally connected to the members 5/ at the ack of the seat and to the upper ends o l the front members 7i by means of pivot pins to permit of the seat or chair collapsing in the manner' described.

The frame members Z carrying the handle 1 are advantageously also provided of metal tubes, and at their upper ends they may be diverted rearwardly and inwardly for the purpose of carrying the handle Z and the andle may be provided of wood or any other suitable material of a substantially cylindrical or other form, withrocesses at the respective ends of the handle into which the respective inwardly protruding ends of the frame members may fit or be secured.

The frame members 7 carrying the handle are pivotally connected to the frame memhers c on the innerside at c. and they are connected to the members g g of the seat by means of a pair of links m in the manner before described, and a pair of collapsible links n are provided for supporting the frame members Z carrying the handle Z from the respective main parts 0 of the frame at points 0 forward of the points 0 at which the ends of the frame members Z are-pivotally secured in the manner before described.

The links n may be so constructed'of parts pivotally connected together at M, that the link parts can only be moved upwardly from the position indicated in Figure 1, so that thus the links it may serve as struts in the use of the mail cart. Or instead the link parts may be connected together in any suitable manner as will permit of the link'parts being moved in relation to each otherjbut again the links n may be provided as plain provided without the upwardly extending members of theback g 1 and the seat may be constructed so that the supporting part thereof is disposed in a central position so that two children may for example beaccommodated back to back looking one towards the front and the other towards the rear. In such a case it will be understood that a foot board such as 0 may be provided at each end. Again the members of the seat may be provided of metal and the parts 9 g and 71. I: may for example be connected together by a transversely disposed par-t extendingbeneath the seat, proper. Then again the seat may be constructed for the acrommoijlation of the child in a reclining position. In such a case the construction is substantially the same as that hereinbefore described in that the seat would comprise members such as g g and h h spaced apart according to the accommodation required and connected together by link members such as i to permit ofthe seat collapsing in the manner hereinbefore described. Moreover the members 9 .g and h h in such a construction would be supported by means of spiral springs as hereinbefore described and the frame members Z would be connected to the members q q or i i in order that these respective parts may be collapsed together. In such a. construction moreover the parts a" i may be formed into a' uadrilateral or other shape closed figure an at therein or in front may be provided with a collapsible hoodof a known kind. Such a construction might be adapted alternatively for the accommodation of the child in a sitting posture. Furthermore the mailcart may be provided as an invalid chair.

Again the frame members carrying the handle may be dispensed with.

I claim: I 1. In a childrens mail cart, in combination, two separate lateral and vertically disposed tubular metal frame members, said frame members each forming a closed figure, two transversely disposed axles respectively connected near the opposite ends to the lower parts of the said frame members, a seat, and means for carrying the seat from and between the upper parts of the said frame members, substantially as described.

2. In a childrens mail cart, in combination, two lateral and verticallydisposed tubular metal frame members, the said frame members each forming a closed figure, two transversely disposed axles respectively connected near the opposite ends to the lower parts of the said frame members, a seat carried by and between the said frame members, and depending spiral springs by means of which the said seat is suspended from the upper parts of the said frame members, substantially as described.

3. In a childrens mail cart, in combination, two lateral and vertically disposed tubular metal frame members, the said frame members each forming a closed figure, two transversely disposed axles respectively connected near the opposite ends to the lower parts of "the said frame members, a seat carried by and between the said frame members and comprising transversely disposed rods at the front and rear, and depending spiral springs by means of which the said said frame members, a seat carried by and between the said frame members comprising two transversely disposed rods to which the lower ends of the respective vertically disposed frame members of the seat are connected, and spiral springs by which the said transversely disposed rods are suspended at their respective ends from the upper parts of the respective frame members, substantially as'describe 5.111. a chi-ldrens mail cart, in combination, two separate and lateral and vertically disposed tubular metal frame members each formin a closed figure, two transversely dispose d axles connected in opposite positions to the lower parts of the said frame members, a collapsible seat carried by and between the said frame members, the said seat comprising parallel disposed frame members at the front and rear whose lower ends are respectively carried upon two transversely disposed rods, means for suspending the said transversely disposed rods from the upper part of the said frame members, and a pivoted handle frame, the respective ends of which are pivotally connected to the frame members at the rear and links by which the said handle frame is connected to the rear frame members of the seat, and

means by which the handle carrying frame is rigidly held in the position of use, substantailly as described.

JAMES GEORGE EVANS. 

